Using Cruise Control for best economy

How do you use your Cruise Control (assuming you have one)? I like bumbling along around 62 mph on Motorways/Autoroutes and the Cruise Control is just great for that. But what about hills? Do you disengage to "feel" your way up the hill? After our break in France and over the Massif Central I got to wondering just how much throttle is being applied. Would I be better changing down a gear or two and using higher revs or just allow the Cruise Control to apply up to maximum throttle in top gear if that was enough to get me up the hill.

I am guessing that when a hill slows the MH below the preset speed, the system will apply full throttle until that speed is achieved again, which may not be the most economic way.

yes, that's my instinctive feeling but would be interested to hear from more 'tech savvy' funsters. If a hill slows me below my preset speed I reset to the speed prescribed until I feel it appropriate to speed up or I 'normalise' at 1900rpm, which seems to be the default economy setting for my 2.2 Ford Duratorq TDCi (140PS but chipped to 175PS)

Haven't got cruise control on the van (wish I had) but on the car I always get the impression of a heavy throttle to bring it back up to speed. I never really thought about it before, though. Technical explanations welcome..........

CFD
Dux Deluxe

Half baked Duck Tactics, as the Germans sayI don't have an Oyster Internet system
But I do have an Oyster card

Haven't got cruise control on the van (wish I had) but on the car I always get the impression of a heavy throttle to bring it back up to speed. I never really thought about it before, though. Technical explanations welcome..........

Click to expand...

as in my post....the cruise will do anything in its power to maintain the set speed.....and get back to it as fast as possible.

my engine is very quiet in cruise, but on a hill the beast is woken, the silence broken.a 6.8ltr V10 at 3500 revs spinning a cooling fan the size of a bicycle wheel will never be quiet :Sad:

manual box, more and more throttle yet less and less revs.....wasted fuel

auto box, downchanges and more revs......wasted fuel

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-I'm trying to see it from your point of viewbut i cant get my head that far up my ass_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

Thanks - being a bit slow tonight..... You'd think that modern electronics would handle it a bit better than simply giving it loads of gas, but in the big scheme of things I suppose there are other priorities for auto makers.

Trying to remember electronic controls I did for my 1st mates ticket years ago but never understood it then either

CFD
Dux Deluxe

Half baked Duck Tactics, as the Germans sayI don't have an Oyster Internet system
But I do have an Oyster card

i have a 2.2 litre ducato with cruise control. My pal has a similar size mh with a 2 litre ducato engine. He does not have cruise control. We set off from home together and got to our need for a fill up. We both started out full. I had to put £82 in and he had to put £92 in. H

Lots of variables of course but I also like to stick at 62 mph. He followed me all the way up the motorway but of course our overtaking abilities were different.

If I feel the engine is struggling in 5th going up hill I drop down to fourth and put the cruise back on.

Probably, like all other ducator owners I have to rely on the sat nav for my true speed.

If you think this is rubbish - wait till you read "When can it do Errands?"

On uphill stretches I disengage the cruise, use a light left foot and often let the speed drop a few mph. I then regain the speed very slowly on the next flat or downhill stretch.

If you watch the instantaneous mpg on the fuel computer, if you leave it in cruise it drops like a stone, but if I use my light right foot and let it drop a couple of mph it hardly changes. Far better mpg can be obtained without the cruise on as opposed to leaving it on all the time. I am getting about 28/29 mpg on a good day. 25/26 on a bad day. I hope to get it remapped before we set off for France next month, so hopefully that will help improve the figures and maybe crack the 30 mpg...:thumb:

My car is a Honda Civic 2.2, 6 speed turbo diesel. The cruise on it is amazing, extremely sensitive and seems to "think" as opposeds to just maintaing the speed at whatever cost. It has an ECO (economy) gauge on LED's as well as the LCD fuel computer. Last time I had a long run up to Scotland and back I achieved 63 mpg sitting "just" above the 60 or 70 mph speed limit as appropriate. Even on long uphill stretches in 6th gear at 70 mph, it still shows just under 50 mpg on cruise.

I use cruise a lot, but, only on level roads or slight inclines. I always knock it off on hills as with an auto box the engine will start to rev a lot higher to try and maintain the set speed. Much more economical to relax on climbs, than scream the engine chasing an unobtainable speed setting.

Thanks for your thoughts. My impression has been that it is better to knock off the Cruise Control on long inclines as your right foot is more sensitive than the Cruise Control. I think CC is a "switch" between power and no power.

Interesting thread this. I say so because I am a disabled MHer and have cruise control on my Quashqui and its fantastic and eases my back off when I drive. I now dont go that far in my MH cos I cant manage to drive long distance any more so cruise control would be fantastic for my 2004 Fiat ducato based MH, our Bessie E435.

appologies for appearing to hijack the thread and if any answers come out of this I'll move to another, but has anyone had cruise fitted to the same cab as I have and does it work and is it expensive?

I can speak with a considerable amount of expertise in economy driving:Wink: cruise control is a pleasure but will definitely not replace the right foot for the best economy. Staying at a constant speed is not the most economical way to drive. If you are going downhill then let your speed pick up and uphill let your speed come down slightly. If you dont believe me then monitor your real time trip computer.
Long distance motorway driving with cruise set at 74mpg I will get 3-4 mpg less than using my right foot, but worth every lost mpg:thumb:

Interesting thread this. I say so because I am a disabled MHer and have cruise control on my Quashqui and its fantastic and eases my back off when I drive. I now dont go that far in my MH cos I cant manage to drive long distance any more so cruise control would be fantastic for my 2004 Fiat ducato based MH, our Bessie E435.

appologies for appearing to hijack the thread and if any answers come out of this I'll move to another, but has anyone had cruise fitted to the same cab as I have and does it work and is it expensive?

apologies again for any hjack.

Bessy regs

Kenny

Click to expand...

For retro cruise control fitting:
Have a word with Dave Newell - www.davenewell.co.uk/

Taran.
To be stupid, selfish, and have good health are three requirements for happiness, though if stupidity is lacking, all is lost. Gustave Flaubert

I would "Never" take much notice of the fuel cons computer, the only way to calculate mpg is to do a fill drive fill test. I have a few vans with computers and for example they might say 30 mpg where as the real mpg is about 24 -25.

You right about the lack of accuracy with trip computers and their optimism but for the purposes of this thread, the instantaneous consumption indicator is a great guide since you're looking for an indication only.

CFD
Dux Deluxe

Half baked Duck Tactics, as the Germans sayI don't have an Oyster Internet system
But I do have an Oyster card

You right about the lack of accuracy with trip computers and their optimism but for the purposes of this thread, the instantaneous consumption indicator is a great guide since you're looking for an indication only.